Emergency Room
by Scribomaniac
Summary: He knew he had to call off the date, but he'd been postponing the actual action. It was unfortunate, but couldn't be avoided, not when he was being pumped full of drugs in an emergency room recovering from a car accident! He groaned and pressed the call button, hoping Tauriel would give him another chance. Written for my friend's 23rd birthday gift!
Kili groaned deeply as his head softly thumped against the pillow beneath his head. It was a standard hospital pillow, not too soft, nor too firm, so it wasn't very comfortable one way or another. It also didn't smell like anything—like, anything, anything. Not even cleaning detergent. That freaked Kili out more than it should have, really. Huffing hot air through his nostrils, he looked over at his right arm. The doctors had stabbed him with an I.V right in the crook of his elbow and although it didn't hurt, exactly, it was uncomfortable as hell. Every time he thought to move his arm, the small needle would pull at his skin and remind him once again that he wasn't at home, preparing for his date—his very first date with Tauriel—and was instead in the Emergency Room of Mirkwood General all because some idiot T-boned him on the highway almost an hour ago.

He knew he had to call off the date, but he'd been postponing the actual action. One, because he'd been higher than a weather balloon with all the drugs they'd pumped into him and two, because this would be their third failed attempt at a date. The first time Tauriel had to cancel because her friend Legolas—the prick—had called her away with some ridiculous emergency that he just had to have her help on—Kili snorted at the memory—and the second time had been his fault. Well, more like his work's fault; they called him in on his day off to work a double shift. And now he thumbed through his contact, bracing himself to cancel on her again. It was like they were cursed or something! Sighing and biting the bullet, Kili hit the call icon on his screen and lifted the phone with his good arm to his ear. The phone rang three times, and Kili worried he'd have to leave her a voice mail, but halfway through the fourth ring she picked up with a calm, "Hello?"

"Tauriel!" Kili shouted out, a bit too loudly. Wincing at himself, he continued, "Ah, hey, I'm sorry to have to do this—ah, _again_ , but I have to cancel tonight's date . . . I'm kind of . . . in the E.R."

"What?" Her voice, usually so quiet and reserved, shrieked in his ear. "Are you okay? What happened? What hospital?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm peachy keen," he grinned reassuringly even though she couldn't see it. Trying to sit up in the bed, his body ached and he groaned, "Or, well, I bruised like one." He laughed at his own joke—maybe the drugs were still in affect after all. "Really though, I'm okay-ish. I was in a minor car accident—no one was badly hurt! They just want to keep me here over night for observation in case I have a concussion or something. So, uh . . . rain check?"

"What hospital are you staying in? I'm coming down there to see if you're really all right."

"What? No!" He looked down at himself, he looked a mess. Nothing like his usual, dark and sultry self. What if she saw him and thought he looked pathetic? His heart monitor began to beep faster and faster as his anxiety grew. Swallowing down a bout of nerves, he continued, "Really, Tauriel, I'm fine! You don't have to come down here!"

"Don't be stupid," she scoffed over the phone. "Of course I'm going to come see you. Now, what hospital is it?"

Kili could hear the determination in her voice and could practically see her brows and mouth setting in a straight line. There would be no deterring her now, he knew. Sighing, he told her, "Mirkwood General."

"Good—they're good," she told him in a pleased tone. "I'll be there in a few."

"Great," Kili muttered after he hung up. Quickly bringing up his phone's camera aspect, he reversed the camera and began to groom himself as best he could with what little time he had. Tauriel was a speed demon on a good day when she had no where to be and a bat out of hell when she had a destination. Grimacing at the doubles eyed bruise he sustained in the accident—courtesy of his air bag—he grimly set his mouth and nodded his head. It was as good as he was going to get.

As predicted, Tauriel took less than ten minutes getting to the hospital, talking to the nurses, and then finding Kili's room. He never understood how she did it all, but at the moment he didn't care. As soon as he saw her, his heart fluttered up into the back of his throat and he was vaguely aware that he was an idiot to think about his looks mere moments before. Cheeks spreading widely, he smiled his best Cheshire grin at her, "Hey there." It wasn't the best greeting, he knew, but when her eyes landed on him and brightened—sparkling like starlight in the night sky—it was obvious that it was all that was needed.

"Kili," she whispered, quickly walking the few steps to stand beside him. Kili hummed as he watched her. He never got over how graceful she was, and he never wanted to, truth be told. Pulling up a seat to sit next to his bed, Tauriel reached out and entwined their fingers together. She was oh so very careful not to move his arm, since it was the one with the I.V, and stroked her thumb over his again and again and again. "Oh, Kili, what have you done to yourself?" She asked so quietly he probably wouldn't have caught it had he not been watching her lips.

" _Me?_ " His smile turned playful as he tried to pretend to be insulted, "What makes you think it was my fault?" He squeezed her hand, but dramatically looked away at the same time. "I'll have you know I was the victim here! Some other idiot T-boned me!"

Blood rushed up to her cheeks and continued up to the tips of her slightly pointed ears—a genetic trait Kili loved to admire—in embarrassment. Ducking her head slightly and trying to hide her smile by biting down on her lower lip, Tauriel tried to compose herself. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have— "

"Psssh," Kili interrupted, squeezing her hand again, "Don't be! Nine times out of ten it would have been my fault. Only this time it was the one time," he scrunched up his nose, "Wait . . . that sounds weird."

Laughing and shaking her head slightly, Tauriel leaned in to kiss him on the forehead, "Well I'm just glad you're okay."

"Yeah . . . Tauriel," he waited until she looked him in the eyes, "I'm really sorry about our date, again. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Smiling softly, Tauriel hummed under her breath before leaning in and resting her forehead against Kili's, still keeping eye contact, "Now I don't know about you, but," she paused to kiss his forehead again, "there's you," she kissed his left cheek, "and me," his right cheek, "together," his nose this time. Kili's eyes fluttered closed at the contact, "That sounds like a pretty good date to me. What about you?" She pulled back long enough for Kili to come out of his daze.

His eyes had to readjust and focus back onto her form before his brain registered her question and he nodded his head vigorously. "Yes," he swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

Humming again with pleasure, Tauriel's smile widened and she leaned back down. Her lips were a hair's breath away from his own when she whispered, "Good," and closed that minuscule space with a final kiss to his lips. Kili's heart monitor beeped wildly, but neither he nor Tauriel paid it any mind. As far as first dates went, Kili thought vaguely in the back of his mind, no other could ever compare.


End file.
